A fire believed to have started around the rear tires of a semi-trailer consumed the entire trailer Wednesday morning as the truck was traveling northbound on I-57 at milepost 105 south of Dix.
Jefferson Fire Protection District officials say the driver of the Canadian JB Hunt truck had pulled over when noticing the fire and had disconnected from the cab to protect it.
While the 38,000 pounds of avocados being hauled did not burn, the packaging they were in did. The trailer had to be unloaded of the contents before it was hauled away.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
The fire call came in at 12:30 Wednesday morning with firemen on the scene until seven am. Northbound traffic was down to one lane during the lengthy cleanup.
Kell Firemen assisted at the scene while Salem Firemen stood by at the Kell fire station in the event of another fire.
